Israel engineers are behind the development of the largest communications router in the world, launched by Cisco.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

After the quake: Pessah in Tokyo

"People are starting to come back slowly" says Chabad Rabbi Mendy Sudakevich as the Japanese capital's small Jewish community prepares its Seder.

Recovery is still a rarely-talked about concept in Japan, but with Pessah approaching, members of the devastated nation’s small Jewish community are making plans to celebrate the holiday’s signature Seder meals in Tokyo.

“People are starting to come back slowly,” said Chabad-Lubavitch of Japan Director Rabbi Mendy Sudakevich. “Their jobs are here.”

Sudakevich and his family evacuated days after March’s deadly earthquake and tsunami claimed tens of thousands of lives, and left a nuclear power plant spewing radiation from its damaged reactors.

His wife and children remain in Israel, but the rabbi decamped to Hong Kong, where he launched a relief effort focused on the inundated northern city of Sendai, along with Chabad of Asia director Rabbi Mordechai Avtzon.

Sudakevich returned to Tokyo three weeks ago.

He expects a fraction of the usual crowd, or about 100 people, to attend each of the two Seders – the first night of the holiday begins April 18 – but feeding everyone will be a challenge in the upended country, he said.

With the Fukushima nuclear power plant still leaking radiation into the sea, air and surrounding countryside, many agricultural products are now viewed as health risks. The rabbi is avoiding local produce at all costs.

“There are things we can get, and other things that we are being advised to avoid,” explained Sudakevich.

Dwindling supplies at his Tokyo Chabad House include some chickens, but kosher meat beyond that cannot be found. A shipment of kosher-for-Passover food has been held up in Singapore, and will likely arrive after the holiday has ended.

Some relief came with a delegation of 60 IDF soldiers who were dispatched to build a medical clinic. They also brought Passover supplies for local Jews.

“There’s matza and wine,” said Sudakevich.

“That’s the minimum that we need for a Seder.”

The rabbi hopes to receive another shipment from the United States in time for the holiday.

In the meantime, he’s giving Torah classes and running children’s activities and has hosted 30 people for Sabbath services and dinner.

The meals’ traditional challa bread came from Sendai’s Arpajan Bakery, which baked bread and distributed it free of charge as part of the Chabad Relief Initiative.

Sudakevitch recently took an elderly Jewish man home from the hospital. He had been hospitalized since suffering a heart attack last year.

“He’s been in the hospital since November and he was just discharged,” said Sudakevich, adding that the 86-year-old has no family. “But he doesn’t think he needs help.”

The rabbi hired someone to help the man around his home for a week. He’s trying to find a way to finance full-time care for the man.

ACT NOW for ISRAEL: Flush ‘LUSH’ Cosmetics!

LUSH Cosmetics has quietly closed its Beverly Hills, California location several months after a group known as “Join the Boycott LA” (www.JTBLA.com) organized a protest outside the store to expose the company’s support of PLO extremism. LUSH, with headquarters in the UK and stores in over 40 countries around the world, is using its customers’ money to support the PLO’s extremist “One World Campaign”. This virulently anti-Israel organization portrays Israel as an “illegal” occupier committing crimes against “Palestine” and grossly exaggerates the suffering in Gaza, placing responsibility solely on the Israelis.

There is much more work to be done. We urge you to ACT NOW FOR ISRAEL by sending an email to customercare@lush.co.uk to protest their anti-Israel extremism.

It has come to our attention that LUSH, a leading luxury handmade cosmetics company, gives a percentage of its profits to an anti-Israel organization called “OneWorld”. Upon visiting the OneWorld website (http://freedomoneworld.org/), it is very clear that they are supported by extreme anti-Israel groups that are sympathetic to terrorist activity against the State of Israel. For example, one of the supporting groups is called “Friends of al-Aqsa”. Visiting their website speaks for itself: http://www.foa.org.uk/.

Did You Know?

Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.

Did You Know?

An Israeli-initiated project is drastically lowering the mortality rate of Ethiopian children infected with the AIDS/HIV virus.

LIVE Talk Radio from Israel – Tuesday Nights!

LIVE FROM ISRAEL! TUESDAY NIGHTS 5:00PM – 7:00PM (EST)

Straight from the heart of Jerusalem comes the only English talk show on broadcast radio in the State of Israel. News, interviews, culture and ideas mixed with positivity and pride in the free, fruitful, and flourishing Jewish homeland.

Yishai and Malkah Fleisher, two well-known internet radio personalities, made the leap to broadcast radio on the new Galey Yisrael station in Israel, blazing a trail to create content for the growing segment of the Israeli public that speaks English. You won’t want to miss it!

We will be broadcast LIVE FROM ISRAEL every Tuesday Night from 5:00pm – 7:00pm (EST)

Click below to listen live every Tuesday!

Contact Us:

Please contribute to Israel - Light Onto Nations

Email us: Light.onto.Nations@gmail.com

I never did anything alone. Whatever was accomplished in this country was accomplished collectively.- Golda Meir